Rock Hill infant suffers burns on arms, legs after left beside heater

A 5-month-old Rock Hill infant was taken to a North Carolina burn center after police say he was left beside a heater for several minutes and suffered severe burns on his legs Sunday.

Police were sent to an Evans Avenue home off North Cherry Road about 3:30 p.m. after a caseworker with the York County office of the Department of Social Services requested their help to complete a welfare check, according to a Rock Hill police report. Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte called the caseworker after admitting an infant boy who was going to be taken to a burn center in Chapel Hill, N.C., for severe burns on his arms and legs.

Police learned that the baby was burned at about 8:30 a.m. after one of his siblings moved him next to the heater while their mother, 23, was asleep, the report states. The child had been lying in a car seat in the living room. Authorities realized the baby was left in front of the heater for several minutes until he started crying.

Family members noticed the severe burns on the boy’s legs and arms and called 911, the report states. Police were unable to contact the mother because her son was en-route to Chapel Hill. It’s unclear what kind of heater the baby was placed near, the age of his sibling or how many other people were in the house on Sunday.

The boy’s condition was not available Monday. Efforts to reach family members on Monday were unsuccessful.

By Monday evening, no charges had been filed in the case.

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